Hello DJJ! My name is Zach. I use he/him/his pronouns. I am a Repair the World Fellow in Detroit and have the great fortune of being partnered with DJJ several hours a week until July of 2019.
For those of you who don’t know, Repair the World (based off of the value of tikkun olam) is a national nonprofit that “works to make meaningful service a defining element of American Jewish life”. Here in Detroit, Repair the World has a cohort of 5 Fellows who live and work together.
We partner with various nonprofit organizations throughout Detroit to engage in our work and since I am a Food Justice Fellow, I also spend a good chunk of my week serving with Gleaners Community Food Bank. If you’re interested you can check out more about them here!
Until moving here to Detroit I’ve lived, worked, and played in the great state of Maine for my entire life. I was heavily involved with my local Boy Scout troop as a kid and love doing all kinds of things outdoors. I grew up in a tiny little town in Maine called Hebron and just graduated in May of 2018 from Bowdoin College with my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. While at Bowdoin I enjoyed being exposed to ideas and patterns larger than myself and spent a lot of time reading about and discussing issues of systemic inequality.
My biggest focus during my time at Bowdoin was centered around food equity and food access. One of the projects I’m most proud of being involved in was my work with the Merrymeeting Gleaners: a food rescue organization in MidCoast Maine run by an incredibly hardworking and dedicated group of volunteers who really care about providing healthy options to the other members of their community. I really love Merrymeeting Gleaners, so feel free to ask me more about them any time. My work with Merrymeeting Gleaners also sparked a new passion for gardening/farming and food production so feel free to also share any gardening tips you might have with me when we talk!
Part of the reason why I love partnering with DJJ this year is because I get to apply the knowledge I gained at Bowdoin in thinking about ways to undertake meaningful service for issues that are taking place right here in Detroit. I am excited to hear all of your stories and can’t wait to work in partnership with all of you to create some great service learning opportunities for DJJ throughout this year!
Hopefully get a chance to talk to you soon!
~ Zach
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